My thoughts on books and anything else that comes to mind!

I’ve been thinking of this for quite a while. When I first started blogging, I did not understand blogger. WordPress was simple and I could get the blog to look the way I wanted to pretty easily. Now that I’m 9 months into this, I’ve decided I really dislike wordpress. I see features on other blogs that I would like to be able to use, but I can’t because wordpress is very limited in features. I’ve wanted to move for a while, just didn’t know how to do it without losing all my content. I did not want to start from square one. I’ve worked hard at this! I finally figured out how to move everything straight to blogger. Now, a lot of my links within pages (like my list of books that link to their reviews) will point to wordpress for a while. It will take me some time to go through and fix all those. But, it’s all there! So without further ado, my new website is

Description: Something strange is happening in Ellerton High. Phoenix is the fourth teenager to die within a year. His street fight stabbing follows the deaths of Jonas, Summer and Arizona in equally strange and sudden circumstances. Rumours of ghosts and strange happenings rip through the small community as it comes to terms with shock and loss. Darina, Phoenix’s grief-stricken girlfriend, is on the verge. She can’t escape her intense heartache, or the impossible apparitions of those that are meant to be dead. And all the while the sound of beating wings echo inside her head… And then one day Phoenix appears to Darina. He tells her that she must help Jonas – the first of the four to die – right the wrong linked with his death. Only with her help can Jonas finally rest in peace. Will love conquer death? And if it does, can Darina set it free?

I Give This Book 3.5 Stars!

I really wanted to like this book, and for the most part I did. It was a fast and easy read. Darina seemed a bit extreme to me at first (maybe I’m growing tired of the love-struck teenager role?). But, she quickly grew on me. She has a lot of backbone for a teenager. I was impressed with the was she handled herself in a lot of the situations. She also seemed genuinely concerned for a friend. She knew that helping Jonas would also be helping her (her name escapes me at the moment). I was not impressed with her parents, but I could see that being normal with a step-parent (another running theme is teen fiction). The 4 dead teens and their “group” also make for interesting characters. They added humor and definitely some suspense and terror to the story. Although I wonder how they expected to right the wrongs associated with their deaths without Darina. It’s almost like they knew she would come help them. I loved the idea of the angel wing tattoos marking them according to how they died. It was an interesting idea to the story.
Now, there were a couple things that bring this book down for me. First, the use of the word zombie. When I think of zombie, I think of the living dead. That’s not what these people are. They are more like ghosts with actual bodies. Second, I really disliked the ending for some reason. I was not surprised with the circumstances surrounding Jonas’ death. But, I thought he could have been vindicated differently. I understood the feelings behind the extreme actions that brought about the ending. It just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It felt over the top. Last, but really not important, I wish the book was a little longer. I felt like all the action took place way to fast.

As part of the Beautiful Dead blog tour, here are links to other reviews by fellow bloggers!

Description: Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of Inkheart, the book whose characters came to life – and changed her life forever.

But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return to the original tale has become desperate. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the magical ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid and plunges into the medieval inkscape once more. Distraught, Farid goes in search of Meggie, and before long both are caught inside the book, too. There they meet Inkheart‘s author, Fenoglio, now living within his own story. But the tale is much changed, and threatening to evolve in ways none of them would have ever imagined. Will Meggie, Farid, and Fenoglio manage to write the wrongs of a charmed world? Or is their story on the brink of a very bad ending?

I Give This Book 4 Stars!

I have to admit that I didn’t jump out and read this because I didn’t think Inkheart was all that great. But, I wanted to know how the story ended. So, I finally picked this one up. I’m very glad that I did. The story was much richer than the first book. It was written better with the characters coming to life more. Maybe it’s because we finally get a look at the world that everybody was willing to go to such lengths for. It’s almost like the author was able to write about a fantasy world better than the real one. I found the danger more real and the bad guys gave off more of that evil persona. I was just overall more impressed with this one. Believe me, I will be picking up the last in the series soon!

Description: Brace yourself for a shocking secret. Two hidden artifacts have been found. Three more remain unrecovered. More preserves face destruction as the Society of the Evening Star relentlessly pursues new talismans. Reading in Patton’s Journal of Secrets, Kendra learns the location of the key to a vault housing one of the artifacts. In order to retrieve it, the Knights of the Dawn must enter a death trap a dragon sanctuary called Wyrmroost. The mission cannot proceed without stealing a sacred object zealously guarded by the centaurs. Anybody seen Seth? The race is on to acquire all five of the artifact keys to the great demon prison. Will the Knights of the Dawn conquer Wyrmroost? Who can stop the Sphinx? Can Vanessa be trusted to help? What artifact will be found next? Find out in Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary.

I Give This Book 4 Stars!

I gave it 4 stars but I’m tempted to give it more… it’s only real draw back is that it’s long. Which doesn’t have to be a bad thing, it just doesn’t have the race until the end, need to read it feel. But, besides that, I love this series. What I do find odd is that I love the mythical creatures in this series more than I love the characters. The characters are well executed though, and have plenty of appeal. But, for some reason, I just love the fantasy. The author has created this tightly woven world of mythical races. Everything has an explanation that fits in with each race. And, while those little details may seem like they dont’ matter, it’s what makes the story real. The author has created a completely functioning different world within our own. And, just when it seems like we’ve reached an ending point of new characters, the author adds a new one. It’s never overwhelming though. I always want more. I have really enjoyed watching Seth and Kendra evolve with the powers they have been granted by very different races withing their grandparents preserve. And it will be interesting to see how they work together to use them. I can’t wait to read the next (and what I think will be the last) in this series!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:And then, of course, Brigan appeared in the doorway to say hello to his mother and to bring Fire back to her horse, and immediately Fire felt herself revert to a child. Some part of her brain went missing whenever this soldier came near. It froze from his coldness.

I started off the week with The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner. I’ve been intrigued by books surrounding the French Revolution. But, the last one was just ok. Apparently what I needed was one of more fictional basis and young adult. It was a fast read and I thought it was great.

I read The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan next. It’s the 4th book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. While it was still a good book, I felt like it was lacking something. Not my favorite of the series.

I finished the week with Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke. I was excited for this book because I really loved Inkspell. I still loved the characters and story development in this one. My problem was it just seemed too long. I think there was too much tedious details and dialog.

I’m going to start Fire by Kristin Cashore tonight. I’m so excited for this book because I loved Graceling! I’m expecting two books from Around the World Tours this week, so I’ll have to read those instead of the other two I had planned (that’s not a bad thing though). So that will be Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia and Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvery.